


Noticing

by Arytra



Category: Power Rangers Dino Thunder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-10
Packaged: 2018-03-29 23:56:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3915484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arytra/pseuds/Arytra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hayley notices a lot of things, but there is one thing she missed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Noticing

It was the little things that they didn’t really consider at first because they’d been trying to save the world and that had taken a lot of mental energy. Prom and graduation did as well, but at least then they started to notice. They noticed Trent’s drawings on the wall like they were priceless artwork instead of the work of a teen who was still honing their skill. It was now common knowledge to them that Ethan had had help preparing him for college with frantic questions and soothing smoothies. They recognized all of the work that had gone into making Kira feel like a star when she was onstage instead of part of a little band in a small community. Finally, they saw who had been helping Conner out of his badly hidden funk when he realized that all of his friends had plans and he didn’t anymore. 

Unfortunately, that year, there wasn’t anything they could do about it. Well, they could politely say thank you, of course, but it didn’t seem like enough. The more they thought about it, the more they realized that Hayley had gone above and beyond. She’d taken over when Tommy had been pulled away… all three times. She was sarcastic, but didn’t complain. She checked in on them. She gave them the words they needed, not what they wanted to hear. A simple thank you just didn’t seem like enough.

It was the May after they graduated that Hayley noticed things and she noticed them far quicker because she wasn’t trying to save the world nor did she have prom coming up. She noticed the flowers that showed up nearly randomly. She noticed when she had more customers from out of town because Kira was already gathering a fanbase. She noticed when she was sent new virus protection because Ethan was able to keep up with things better and “test” them. She noticed when she received signed copies of video games she didn’t even think existed anymore due to a grateful Trent. She got a call from Conner telling her that he’d be stopping by on Sunday and not to close up as usual.

She did as he asked, though she did gripe about it to an amused Tommy. That said, she would always be open to the four of them even if she wouldn’t admit it. The café was mostly empty when he arrived that Sunday, barreling through the door. He had the same cocky grin he always wore and a small army of children with him. It was the second part of that statement that caught her off guard. She blinked for a minute and then headed over if for no other reason than to make sure they didn’t go crazy in her café. Conner headed over to her and pulled her into a hug before turning to the kids. “Guys, this is Hayley.”

Recognition at the name shone in the kids’ eyes. They had to be no older than six and all of them began to bounce in place. One of them looked at her in awe. “Mr. McKnight says you know everything!”

“He’s exaggerating,” she said quickly, giving a look to him. He was just grinning.

“She does,” he half-whispered to the kids. He turned back to Hayley, ignoring her glare. “Can you grab them some smoothies?”

“Why do you have a group of children?” She asked, getting the smoothies as he asked. He handed her the money as she did it. She glanced at it and handed some of it back. “They’re smaller smoothies.”

He rolled his eyes, but didn’t make a fuss as he took it. Both of them knew that he really didn’t have the money to spare. He settled the kids down over by the couch and headed back to get the smoothies. To her surprise, they were relatively quiet. He grinned as he answered both her verbal and non-verbal questions. “Just had a game.”

She nodded. “You’ve told them about me?”

He scoffed. “I have training exercises named after you, Hayley,” he answered. She smiled a bit at that. “So, uh, since I’m the closest here, the others decided that I get to be their delivery man.”

He pulled out a few cards from his bag and handed them to her. She took them, noticing Kira’s flowing handwriting, Ethan’s messy writing, and Trent’s neat writing. Next to them was one with Conner’s chicken scratch. She gently opened them and blinked a couple of times.

_“Hi Hayley! Sorry I couldn’t be there, but I have a concert the Saturday before. Happy Mother’s Day! I miss you! Love, Kira._

_“Hey Hayley! I hope Conner actually delivers it. Thanks for everything! Happy Mother’s Day! -Ethan._

_Hi Hayley. I tried to make it back before Mother’s Day, but I have exams. Thank you so much for everything and I’m sorry I didn’t say it as much when I was still there. Happy Mother’s Day! Love, Trent._

Conner’s was more simplistic. It had ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ written on it. And ‘From, Conner’ but nothing else personal was written. On the other hand, it was decorated with the names of all the kids on his team and had little pictures drawn from some of them.

She looked up at him. “Happy Mother’s Day?”

“Yep.”

“You guys know I’m not your mom, right?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Conner shrugged. “Close enough,” he answered. “You were always there, Hayley. Both with dino related stuff and just other stuff. You let us stay in the café and watch Japanese T.V. I think you count.”

She looked back at the cards and then back at him before pulling him into a hug. She’d noticed the flowers, the customers, the virus protection, the video games, and Conner’s drop-ins. But as she sat there with the four cards, several children in awe, a far too smug coach, and the words written entering her brain, she finally noticed the one thing that had gotten past her: She was her team’s mom.

She looked at Conner at she pulled back and matched his smirk. “Tommy and I could have done worse,” she teased and he laughed, leading her back to the kids as the spent the rest of the afternoon catching up and answering questions.


End file.
